Use book sale a good investment

There are lots of deals this weekend, with the Whistler Mountain Ski Club presenting its annual ski swap and retailers holding pre-season ski sales, but some of the best bargains will be found in front of the IGA at Marketplace.

And while everyone likes to get new equipment, the used book sale at the IGA is actually be a better investment. Used books and used skis may both have marred surfaces but a used book reads just as well as it did when it was new.

And proceeds from the book sale will go toward stocking the library shelves at Whistler Secondary and the Spring Creek elementary school that will open next year.

"Weve had an incredibly generous response," says Jane Reid, one of the organizers of the used book sale, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12 and Sunday, Oct. 13.

"Weve got lots of fiction, literature, best sellers, and lots of non-fiction  self-help, cook books, humour, biographies. Theres also lots of childrens books, everything from board books to fiction for young adults."

Reid says there are even some vintage childrens books that the school district donated.

The collection of used books, magazines and some used videos has come from donations by residents and weekenders over the past four weeks.

This is the second used book sale of the year organized by Reid for the benefit of local school libraries. A sale last May raised $3,400 for the school libraries, as well as a number of books that were deemed good enough to go straight into the libraries. Reid says there are probably 1,500 books now set aside for the Spring Creek school library.